MIDDLETOWN, Ohio- The River States Conference unveiled the award winners for the 2024 women's soccer season Wednesday afternoon, ahead of the start of the conference tournament. The regular season champions from Oakland City claimed four of the five major awards, while the other team with a first round bye in the tournament, the Rio Grande RedStorm, claimed the other.

Macey Woolcock was the big winner, taking home both the Offensive Player of the Year award and the overall Player of the Year award. Woolcock scored 12 goals and assisted on seven more in her first season at Oakland City, helping the Mighty Oaks to an undefeated record in conference play. The Essex, England scored in five of Oakland City's nine conference games, including two goals against WVU Tech and a goal and two assists against Rio Grande.

Jana Mueller was honored by the Conference as the 2024 Newcomer of the Year, joining the Mighty Oaks as a freshman from Nierstein, Germany. The midfielder scored nine goals and assisted on seven more in her first season in the Conference, and was involved in at least one goal in seven of Oakland City's nine matches, putting up four points in a win over Brescia and three in the regular season finale against Rio Grande.

Hannah Halstead represented Rio Grande among the honorees, earning Defensive Player of the Year honors. The junior defender played a major role in helping the RedStorm to a first round bye in the RSC Tournament, leading Rio Grande from the center back position. Halstead never came off the field for the RedStorm, and her coach credited her "1v1 defending, vision of the field, and distribution" in his nomination. 

Selected by his fellow coaches, Jamie Bladen of Oakland City was named the 2024 RSC Coach of the Year. Bladen took the Mighty Oaks to the top of the conference in his first year at the helm. One season removed from not competing, the Mighty Oaks were dominant in River States Conference play, going 9-0 to enter the conference tournament as the top seed.

The 2024 River States Conference Tournament is scheduled to begin today, with IU East and WVU Tech hosting first round contests. Top seeded Oakland City and second seeded Rio Grande await in Saturday's semifinals, with the semifinal winners meeting next Wednesday to determine the conference's automatic berth into the NAIA Tournament.